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6.10.2010

Shooting: Gold for trap pair, bronze for Huckle

England claimed its first shooting gold of the Games as Steven Scott and Stevan Walton beat their Indian rivals by one shot to win the men’s Double Trap Pairs title in a Commonwealth record of 189 points.

And James Huckle added a bronze in the 10m Air Rifle as he finished behind the two Indian superstars of the sport Gagan Narang – who won gold with a Games record of 703.6 points after shooting six perfect rounds before the 10 shots he took in the final – and Olympic champion Abhinav Bindra.

Walton completed the first round of his final by missing just one target to record 49 points, with Scott scoring 46. At the halfway stage, however, the Indian pair of Ronjan Sodhi and Asher Noria were still a point ahead, 96-95.

However the pressure of being home town hopefuls appeared to tell on the leaders in the second round as they could only score 92, and with both Englishmen scoring 47 the final margin of victory was secured.

Huckle went into the final one place out of the medals, having shot 591 in his six qualifying rounds, two points less than team-mate Kenny Parr.

But the 19-year-old from Harlow, who won two golds at the Commonwealth Youth Games in India two years ago, showed his competitive instinct as he overhauled his pairs partner by the halfway point.

Even then the balance was still swinging between them, as successive shots of 10.8 and 10.1 brought Parr level with just two shots remaining.

But while Huckle, composing himself in the privacy of his Union Jack blinkers, managed a 10.6 and a 9.8, Parr dropped out of medal contention with 10.4 and 9.5.

“It was like being on a roller coaster for 15 minutes,” said Huckle.

“I started the final two points behind Kenny after the qualification round, which was a lot to make up, so it was going to be a tough challenge.

“But my first three shots went really well and Kenny was not shooting as well as he can do so I thought ‘OK, let’s see what can happen here.’

“It was so close, I just tried to concentrate on my shooting. I didn’t think about the bronze until after my last shot, when I checked the final scoreboard.

“Kenny and I know each other really well. Obviously it’s a shame for him, but it’s almost like, this is a medal for England at the end of the day. Like me he’s got two more events to go, so he has other chances.”

Ahead of the English pair, the world champion consolidated the perfect qualifying which had brought him to the final 10 shots with a five-point lead over his home rival. Barring calamity, the gold was his.

Bindra eventually finished slightly further behind with a total of 698.

“Realistically Gagan and Abinhav were out of reach by the time we got to the final. But stranger things have happened, and history has proved that.

“You could get a shot of two or three and you lose everything. At this level, though, that happens very rarely.

“It was a really exciteable atmosphere today, which affected your mindset. You are going to hear the noise, but you have got to block it out. I try thinking of good training days.”

It must have been a particularly good training day he was thinking about today.

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